Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder
by AllusionToAnIllusion
Summary: He trusted her with Alexis. Alexis was his whole world and he trusted her to keep his baby safe while he was off signing god knows what all over the country. Well, she couldn't deny that it made her heart melt just a little. Maybe a lot.


**This is a fanfiction Christmas present for ncisgal1994. I loved your idea and I just hope I did it justice! And I'm not really sure when this takes place. But it is at least a year from now, I think they're both a bit too guarded to have this happen now. **

**Disclaimer: I love it but sadly I don't own it. **

* * *

She placed the takeout on her counter and began searching around for a clean plate when her phone began ringing. She didn't have a case, in fact she'd just wrapped hers up about an hour ago, so it probably wasn't work. Then again bodies were never concerned with whether you just wrapped up a case. But Montgomery had given her the night off and he always stuck to his word. Curiosity eventually got the best of her and she pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket, not at all surprised when the called ID read Castle.

"Aren't you supposed to be packing for your book tour?" She said instead of her normal greeting.

"I have a tradition, procrastinator that I am. I only pack the day of departure, been doing it since I was a kid and I don't see why I should change it now." She laughed at his antics and shook her head at nobody in particular. He sounded almost proud of his childish ways but she heard a hint of something else in his voice. What was it? Nervousness, she detected nervousness. He wanted to ask her something. He wanted to ask her something and wasn't sure how she'd respond.

"What is it, Rick?" It had been about six months since last names flew out the window. It was only allowed when they weren't working, only for when they were just hanging out. And lately she'd been using his first name a lot.

"What?" She could almost see him scrunching his brow together and cocking his head, feigning confusion masterfully.

"You want to ask me something." She did not beat around the bush.

"How'd you know?" He chuckled and she heard a plop she assumed was him falling onto the couch and getting comfortable. She did the same, sitting in the closest chair and tucking her legs under her body.

"Trained detective." She was absolutely sure he could hear the smirk in her voice.

"Can't hide anything from you, Kate." She ignored the not-so-subtle flutters in her stomach at the use of her first name. Six goddamn months and they still hadn't stopped.

"What do you want?" She skeptically said, wondering what it was that had him skirting around the subject.

"Well, I'm going to be away for a few weeks." She hit her head with her hand. He didn't need to explain the obvious to her. "And, well, mother is going to be at rehearsal most of the time because her play premieres in only a few days." She understood immediately.

"I'll look after Alexis, don't worry." She grinned, completely floored by the fact that he was basically entrusting his entire world to her. He trusted her to keep his baby safe and happy.

"You will?" The childish hope in his voice was actually kind of endearing.

"Who else is going to make sure Ashley stays away from her room?" She knew that had been a concern of his, no matter how implausible it was.

"Thanks, Kate." She could hear the raw emotion in his voice, though she didn't dare to define it.

"Anytime, Rick." She smiled softly, loving the way his name just rolled off her tongue. She wasn't going to think about the reason for that though.

"I'm gonna miss you, you know." His voice was soft, the softness making the moment seem much more intimate than it was. Or maybe she was just hoping for it to seem that way. But why was she hoping for that?

"Yeah, well, I might just miss you too." Lately she'd taken to joking around whenever the flutters in her stomach got a bit too strong or her heart melted a little too much. She was sure it was something she'd picked up from him.

"Yeah?" There it was again, that boyish hope.

"Yeah." Her voice was just as soft as his now, the same emotion she hadn't dared to define comfortably making its way into her tone.

* * *

She turned the key in the lock, smiling as someone opened the door from the other side instead. Rick had given her a key when she'd first started coming over for movie nights and dinners, afraid that he'd be holed up in his office writing and wouldn't hear her knock. It was a believable excuse, but that's all it was, an excuse. But she went with it, pretending that was the real reason she'd taken it.

"Kate!" The redheaded teen pulled her into the loft immediately and wrapped her arms around her.

"Hey, Alexis." She returned the hug almost immediately, chuckling as the teen let her go and rushed into the kitchen and began rambling on and on about how much fun they were going to have tonight. She followed Alexis and sat down, just watching the teenager finish preparing their dinner. Earlier Alexis had called the precinct, asking her what she wanted for dinner. The teen had been so excited about cooking for her, and maybe even showing off her awesome ice cream sundae making skills, that she hadn't even paid attention to the curious looks she was getting from Ryan and Esposito.

"How was school today?" It felt oddly domestic to be here, Alexis cooking dinner and Kate asking her how her day had been.

"Good, I got an A on my history paper. It was about Hemingway, basically how World War I influenced his writing. Dad used to read me Hemingway when I was little, especially when I was sick. It always made me feel better even though his stories weren't exactly happy." The redhead turned to Kate with a grin, holding out a spoonful of what looked to be an amazing sauce. "Here, try it."

"Mmm, that's good." She all but moaned as the wonderful concoction hit her taste buds.

"Great!" Alexis turned back to her cooking, though every once in a while she'd reach up and rub her temples.

"You okay, sweetie?" The pet name slipped out of its own accord and she was surprised that she wasn't surprised by it.

"Yeah, just a headache." The teen smiled shyly at her as she made her way into the bathroom, reemerging with a triumphant grin and a bottle marked Advil. She handed the small bottle to Alexis who smiled in return and made her way over to the refrigerator to get some water.

* * *

Turns out it wasn't just a headache. A few days later it had turned into the full-blown flu. Martha was busier than ever and, as much as she wanted to, couldn't be at home enough to take care of her granddaughter. So Kate had taken to sleeping at the loft and immediately heading over there after work. When she had to be at the precinct she sent the neighbor over to the loft to check on the teenager every so often, calling her to make sure she was okay even more. Alexis had taken to hiding out in her dad's office, reading the huge collection he had acquired over the years. Mostly Hemingway. She'd even started reading some of his work to her before the girl went to sleep, Alexis would drift off to the sound of Kate reciting the famous author's words.

She wandered into the office to see if Alexis wanted anything to eat or drink. The throwing up seemed to have subsided so she knew the girl would get hungry at some point, she hadn't eaten anything for two days. She found the girl smiling at her father's computer screen, laughing as much as she could without getting nauseous.

"And what's going on here?" Kate asked and chuckled at how Alexis jumped as she realized someone else was in the room.

"Video-conferencing!" The girl immediately whirled the screen around and she was face to face with Rick, he was pretending to be dizzy from all the spinning.

"Hey, Kate." He grinned his trademark grin and enthusiastically waved at her. "I hope my little girl hasn't been too much trouble, she can get very grumpy when she's sick." He conspiratorially whispered the last part at her, making her laugh and Alexis narrow her eyes.

"Alexis? Trouble? I don't think those two words can be put together in the same sentence." She looked over at the girl in question. She was adjusting the screen so Rick could easily see both of them.

"That's my pumpkin." He kissed his computer screen and both women started laughing.

"Dad, I am not going to kiss my computer screen." She squealed exasperatedly.

"What about you?" He turned to look at her, waggling his eyebrows in traditional Castle fashion.

"Maybe later." She smirked as he grinned. He really did look handsome when he smiled.

"I'll hold you to that." Now it was his turn to smirk at her.

"Oh my god, it's almost eleven thirty! I have to get to bed. Goodnight Dad, goodnight Kate." Alexis waved to both of them, not wanting to risk getting Kate sick by hugging her, and walked out of the study. She turned back to Rick, chuckling at the girl's antics.

"I'm not even sure she's your daughter." She really couldn't fathom how the immature and innuendo filled Castle had created such a mature and wonderful girl.

"Well, Meredith was a wild one…" He trailed off in playful speculation, smiling at her from all the way across the country. "But seriously, how is she?" His true fatherly colors were beginning to show.

"Much better now, I think another day of rest will cure her." She smiled at how he visibly brightened, a weight being lifted off of his shoulders.

"Thank you, Kate. You have no idea how much this means to me." He smiled again but this time it was paired with that emotion flooding his eyes again, it was getting harder and harder to pretend not to notice it, much less not analyze it.

"You're welcome, Rick. She's a good kid. Despite the obvious differences I see a whole lot of you in her." They sat in silence for a while, just studying the other. It didn't take too long before Paula ran into the room screaming about how she was going to kill him if he was late for one more event. She laughed at his terrified expression.

"Well, I wouldn't want you to die. If anyone's going to kill you, it'll be me." This seemed to appease his terror, but only a bit. "'Night, Rick." She moved to close the screen.

"Wait!" He yelled, scrambling to put his coat on.

"Hmm?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"You still owe me a kiss." He grinned again and she laughed, rolling her eyes expertly. She hardened her gaze on him, making him squirm, before slowly blowing a kiss in his direction. He made a show of catching it in his hand and pressing it to his lips. "You taste like cherries." She raised her eyebrow at his large grin, keeping it to herself that she was indeed wearing cherry flavored Chap Stick.

"Goodnight, Rick." She giggled, not knowing her eyes were shining with the same emotion his were.

"Did you just giggle?" He pretended to be astonished, faking shouting out the window that Kate Beckett, NYPD detective, has just giggled.

"Maybe." She responded slyly, making him laugh the laugh that made the sides of his eyes crinkle.

"Goodnight, Kate." With that she closed the laptop, smiling all the way up to her makeshift room and slipping into bed, the same bed he slept in every night when he was home. It smelled just like him.

* * *

_"Kate, Kate!" She whirled around, looking for the source of the voice but there were just so many doors. "Kate!" It was him. He was _calling_ out to her desperately; he needed her. She opened one door after another, frantically searching for where his voice was coming from. Finally she saw him, she opened a door and found him standing in the middle of a dark room, spotlight trained on him. She began to run toward him, happy beyond belief that he was okay. He held his arms out to her and smiled, she smiled back as she neared him. Suddenly there was a gun pointed at his head, the only things visible in the light being Rick and the hand holding the gun._

_ She sped up, determined to get to him, but two people grabbed her from behind and held her back. She screamed and fought as hard as she could but no matter what she did to her captors they wouldn't release her. Booming laughter filled the room as a finger tightened on the gun's trigger, the only thing louder than the mocking laughter was the blast of the bullet as it left the gun. It all happened so fast. Rick lay crumpled on the ground, the hand with the gun retreated back into the darkness and her captors still refused to let her go. She heard him whisper it, so softly she almost didn't hear it. _

_ "I love you." He choked it out, trying to move his head so he could see her and then he was gone. He was just gone; his body had disappeared. The two men finally let her go and she ran to the spot where he'd just been, frantically looking around for any sign of him. She fell to the ground, pawing at the floor. And then it, too, was gone, the floor fell away and she was falling. She looked down and only saw black as she searched for anything to grab a hold of, but there were no walls and so she just kept plummeting into the abyss. _

She immediately sat up in the bed, tears pouring down her cheeks. She looked around, the room was dark and she couldn't make out where she was. This wasn't her apartment. She lay back on the bed and sobbed, pulling one of the pillows tight against her body. She inhaled and discovered that it smelled just like him, it was so strong it was almost as if he was there with her. She closed her eyes and let his scent comfort her until she drifted back to sleep. It had been so real, too real.

* * *

It was finally the day, the day Rick returned to New York. Alexis, who had been absolutely fine for weeks now, was ecstatic. She'd even made a banner that read 'Welcome home, Dad! We all missed you!' and Kate had helped her hang it above the stairs. She decided to ignore the fact that the teenager had undoubtedly known that she'd missed him too. We all, the implied a group of people. And, well, Alexis was completely right. She had missed him. Even if they'd video-chatted almost nightly and she'd been very occupied with Alexis she still couldn't help but want him to come home soon. She was also going to ignore the way she'd just worded that thought. Come home, she wasn't going to analyze that word choice.

Even though Alexis proved to be completely healthy she'd kept sleeping at the loft, telling herself that it was only because she wanted to make sure the teenager was okay. Oh, all the lies floating around in her head recently. The sound of her phone interrupted her musings and she flipped it open, pressing it to her ear.

"Beckett." She said firmly, she really hoped she didn't have a case. She wanted to be here when Rick got back.

"Hey, Kate." It was him.

"Did you land yet?" She sounded hopeful. Very, very hopeful.

"Yeah, but there's major traffic so I'm going to be a bit late. Tell Alexis not to wait up, I'll come in and wake her up when I get home." She could hear people yelling his name in the background. Obviously he had not escaped the paparazzi yet.

"Okay, we'll be waiting." She was sure he picked up on her word choice but he didn't comment on it.

"Okay, bye." She could hear the smile in his voice as he hung up.

* * *

She was woken from her dreams by the sound of the door slowly creaking open. She opened her eyes slightly and saw the frame of a man standing in the doorway. She smiled tiredly when she realized who it must be.

"Rick?" She asked softly, still half asleep.

"Hi, Kate. You like my bed?" He seemed amused, she could hear him laughing quietly as he sat down on the bed.

"Mhm, comfy." She closed her eyes and lay her head back on the pillow.

"Okay," his laughter got a bit louder, "well, I'll go sleep in the guest bedroom then." She felt the weight on the bed lessen and she shot her arm out with surprising speed considering her sleepy state. She caught his hand in hers and pulled him back towards the mattress.

"Mmm, stay." He stayed where he was for a moment but soon he was lying right beside her, seemingly unsure of what to do with himself. She rolled over and rested her head on his chest, snaking an arm around his body. She could feel more than hear the sharp intake of breath followed by small chuckles. He wrapped an arm around her and kissed her shoulder softly.

"I missed you." He whispered in her ear and she was sure he didn't miss the shivers that ran through her body.

"Missed you." It was a bit slurred because she was basically asleep but he didn't seem to mind. She just snuggled into him more, burying her head in the crook between his neck and his shoulder. She inhaled, loving how his smell surrounded her. The pillow may have been a nice substitute, but this was heaven.

* * *

**I really hope you like it ncisgal!**

**And lastly, review? I'd love it ever so much. Consider it a Christmas present from you to me. **


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